Textile combing machine



Feb. 19, 1957 J. R. FOSTER TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 12, 1953 1 17 hamJ 7 a, aw

Feb. 19, 1957 7 Filed Oct. 12, l953 J. R- FOSTER TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 19, 1957 J. R. FOSTER 2,781,556

TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oqf. 12, 1953 Feb. 19, 1957 J. R. FOSTER 2,781,556

TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 hjjkawr Feb. 19, 1957 J. R. FOSTER TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 12, 1953 TEXTILE COMBING MACHINE John Raymond Foster, Accrington, England, assignor to T. M. M. (Research) Limited, .Helmshore, Rossendale,

England Application October 12, 1953, Serial No. 385,633

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 14, 1952 2 Claims. (Cl. 19-116) The invention has for its object to provide an improved constructional arrangement of a combing machine whereby increased production can be obtained without loss of quality by operating at a higher speed than has hitherto been practicable, the said invention-providing improved means for mounting and operating the top comb and nipper mechanism as an alternative to the known arrangement wherein the nipper mechanism is suspended from a rocking shaft which is located above the comb cylinder and to which the nipper frame is fixed so that the requisite to and fro movement of the nippers is derived from the oscillation of the said shaft, the top comb being carried by a fixed pivot and linked to the nipper frame so as to move synchronously therewith.

Associated with the manner of mounting and operating t proach of the top comb and the nippers to the nip of said rollers without fouling the surface of the upper roller. Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of detaching mechanism in which the aforesaid requirements are met without the complications which are involved by the necessity for translating the upper back roller in the manner of the well-known Heilmann and Nasmith combers.

According to the present invention the nipper assembly is suspended from a fixed pivot, and is oscillated by a driving connection with a member mounted upon a rocking shaft situated above the cylinder, said rocking shaft providing a mount for the top comb.

The invention further proposes that the detaching mechanism shall comprise two pairs of detaching rollers, all rotating about fixed-axes, and said .pairs of rollers are so relatively disposed that, on reversal, the pieced web makes contact with the surface of the bottom back roller before entering the nip thereof and is thereby predisposed to follow the curvature of thesaid bottom roller.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in, and hereinafter described with reference to, the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In said drawings, Fig. l is a transverse section of the machine, Fig. 2 .is an enlarged sectional view of the partsof the machine which are intimately associated with the combing elements, as seen at the end of the cylinder combing stage, the nippers still being closed, and Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2 but depicts the positions of the parts after the nippers have opened and the top comb operation is about to commence. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the comb cylinder, the nipper mechanism, the top comb, and the detaching roller assembly, shown in the position respec- 2,781,556 patented Feb. 19, 1957 Ice tively occupied at the commencement of the cylinder combing stage; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are similar to Fig. 4, but varied to depict the positions of the parts at three subsequent stages in the combing cycle. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the mechanism by which the nipper rocking movements are efiected by the rotation of the comb cylinder.

The members of the machine shown in the drawings are designated as follows:

The numeral 1 indicates the main frame by which the several operating members are suitably supported. 2

is the comb cylinder, 3 the stripping brush thereof and 4.

the aspirator duct used to conduct away the shortfibres removed by the comb cylinder 2, the shaft of which is indicated at 2a. 5, 6 are rollers upon which a lap 7 of material to be combed is placed so that it may rotate freely as the combing operation proceeds. 8 and 9 are respectively the top and bottom nippers and 10 i the top comb. 11, 12 and 13, 14 are respectively back and front pairs of detaching rollers, all of which are mounted for rotation about fixed axes. 15 is a plate adapted to lead the combed material through a funnel 16, whence it is delivered by the rollers 17, 18 to a longitudinal delivery plate 19.

The lower nipper 9 is carried by a frame of which the side members 20 are joined at the rear by a shaft 2]..

In the space above the comb cylinder 2 is located the rocking shaft 22 upon which the top comb 10 is suspended by means of brackets 23. Each of a pair of levers 24 fixed to the shaft 22 is connected by an adjustable link 25 to an arm 26 of a bell-crank lever 26, 27 which is pivoted at 28 and the other arm 27 of which supports at its extremity the pivot shaft 21 of the upper nipper frame, the arrangement being such that the requisite oscillating action of the nipper frame is derived from the rocking movement of the shaft 22 through the members 24, 25, 26, 27 and 21. The amplitude of the nipper movement can be adjusted by regulating the effective length of the link 25. The rocking motion of said shaft 22 is performed by the oscillation of a lever 40 which is fixed on said shaft 22 and which carries a cam-follower 41 which co-operates with a cam 42 fixed on the comb cylinder shaft 2a (Fig. 8).

The upper nipper 8 is carried by levers 29 loosely pivoted on the shaft 21 and each of which is connected by an extensible drag link 30 with a fixed anchorage 31. By these means the nippers are caused automatically to open when the lower nipper 9 is wung forwardly after the cylinder combing stage.

It will be seen that the radius of the oscillating movement of 'the nipper assembly about the axis 28 is substantially less than would be the case were the nippers suspended directly from the rocking shaft 22.

The improved constructional arrangement of the nippers and their mountings possesses the following advantages over the known construction hereinbefore referred (a) Improved mechanical design conditions result from a reduction in the length of stroke of the nippers, and it will be appreciated that this is of particular importance where a high machine operating speed is sought.

(b) By removing from the rocking shaft the duty of carrying the relatively heavy nipper mechanism, and limiting the amount of dead weight which must be carried by the rocking shaft to that of the comparatively light top comb, it follows that the stresses imposed on said shaft are greatly reduced and a shaft of smaller diameter may be employed.

(0) For a given total time of nipper movement a reduction in stroke enables the velocity of movementot' the nippers to be correspondingly reduced, and this factor, together with the shortened stroke, lessens the tendency of the fringe held by the nippers to be distributed, and also leads to a reduction in atmospheric disturbance by which fly may be disadvantageously dispersed.

(d) In any conventional comber, it is not possible to reverse the detaching rollers to turn back the fringe of the previously combed material until the last row of cylinder needles has passed the detaching rollers. It is clearly desirable, therefore, that the rear position of the nippers (i. e., the position occupied during the cylinder combing operation) should be situated as closely as possible to the detaching rollers, so that this cl-cad" period is reduced to a minimum, and the time saved thereby may be employed to increase the period devoted to some other operation in the comber cycle. It will be appreciated that the reduced nipper stroke permitted by the present invention does indeed minimise the dead" period, the time saved, being used to augment the period devoted to the turn-back of the detaching rollers. By this means, the velocity of the turn-back is reduced, thereby relieving the stressing conditions on the detaching, rollers and the roller drive and providing better technological operating conditions.

(e) It is accepted that the speeds at which the detaching and top combing operations are performed may not be increased beyond a certain, limit without deterioration in the quality of the output material. In the present improved machine, the reduced stroke and consequent reduction in the velocity of movement of the nippers make it possible for the nipper head toenter the detaching zone earlier in the comber cycle than would otherwise have been the case. The period which can be devoted to the detaching operation is consequently increased, and, although the machine itself is running at greatly increased speed, the speed of the detaching operation is not increased to the same extent. It is thus possible to enhance the rate of production without loss of quality.

As previously stated, the axes of the detaching rollers 12. i2 and i3, 14 are fixed. It will be seen that the front pair l3, 14 are so located with respect to the back pair l1, 12 that the pieced Web A makes contact at 32 with the surface of the bottom back roller 12 before entering the nip of the rollers 11, 12. That is to say, in the present embodiment the nip of the rollers 13, 14 is located at a lower level than that of the rollers 1.1, .12 so that the web A is inclined from the point at which it leaves the nip of the rollers 13, 14-, the surface of the roller 12 lying in the path of the web before it enters the nip 1:1, 12. This arrangement has the effect of inducing in the web A a tendency, after passing back through the nip of the rollers 11, 12, to curve downwardly about the rear surface of the roller 12, taking up the position shown at A1 in Fig. 6.

In the view shown in Fig. 4, which represents the relative positions of the parts as the needles 33-013 the comb cylinder 2 have commenced to comb the new tuft of uncombed material B, which is held between the nippers 8. 9, the combed web A has still to proceed a short distance further through the detaching rollers before its motion is reversed preparatory to piecing. When the parts reach the positions shown in Fig. 5, the cylinder combing stage is almost complete and the nipper assembly and top comb have commenced their forward movement towards their piecing positions. After the comb cylinder needles 33 have passed the new t-uft B towards the position shown in Fig. 6, during which movement they may brush down the fringe A1 of the combed web A, the nippers 8, 9 open, allowing the new tuft to be fed forwards into. contact with the web A, and as the fringe A1 and the leading edge of the new tuft B are grasped by the rollers 11, 12, the top comb 10 is lowered to perform the final combing operation on the remainder of the new tuft B. The parts have now reached the positions shown in Fig. 7.

In order that the presence of the upper back roller 11 will not hinder the nipper assembly and top comb from moving as closely as possible to the nip of the back rollers 31, 12 during the piecing operation, and in order that the necessity for any translatory movement of the back rollers may be avoided, the axis of the roller 11 is locatcd somewhat. in advance of the vertical plane containing the axisof the roller 12- What I claim and desire t-o secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a textile combing machine, the combination of a comb cylinder, a detaching mechanism, a rocking shaft located above said cylinder, pivot means located intermediate said rocking shaft and comb cylinder, a nipper assembly, means supporting the latter from said pivot means for swinging movement thereabout towards and away from said detaching mechanism, means for oscillating said rocking shaft in timed relationship with the rotation of said cylinder, at top comb fixed on said rocking shaft and positioned to swing towards and away from said detaching mechanism, and connections between said rocking shaft and said nipper-supporting means for swinging said nipper assembly back and fort-h duringthe oscillationof said rocking shaft.

2. in a textile combing machine, the combination of a comb cylinder, 21 detaching mechanism, a rocking shaft located above said cylinder, a nipper assembly, pivot means located. at a less distance from the point of nip of said nipper assembly than is the rotation axis of said rocking shaft, a bell-crank lever mounted for pivotal movement about said pivot means, a lever and link connection between said rocking shaft and one arm of said bell-crank lever, a pivot shaft carried by the other arm of said bell-crank lever, said nippe-r assembly being mounted on said pivot shaft, means for oscillating said rocking shaft in timed relationship with the rotation of said cylinder and atop comb fixed on said rocking shaft and positioned to swing towards and away from said dc taching mechanism.

References Cited in the fileof this patent UNITED'STATES PATENTS G'ressel ,Oct. 20, 1953 

